The present invention pertains to devices and methods of dispensing food container lids. Particularly within what is termed the “fast food” industry, foods and more particularly drinks, are typically sold in disposable containers for which lids are provided for the convenience of the buyer. These lids are typically very thin and light weight and sold and distributed to food vendors in stacks of many multiple lids. Dispensing individual lids to food buyers is problematic and no practical lid dispenser is yet available. The most common practice is to make accessible to the food buyer a quality of loose or stacked lids so that the buyer may manually select a lid for their use. In this process many lids may be handled by the buyer in their efforts. This creates a health risk to subsequent buyers who may use the remaining lids.
To resolve this problem, many different lids dispensers have been proposed in the prior art. Unfortunately, a simple and reliable lid dispenser is not yet available to the market. One problem that has been difficult to overcome is the inherent nesting of lids arranged in a stack. This nesting, combined with the high flexibility of the individual lid, makes separation of individual lids difficult. Dispensing devices that apply significant force to the lids often result in bending and distortion of the lids and result in adjacent lids sticking together. What is needed is a simple lid dispensing device that reliably separates individual lids from lid stacks.